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Microbial electrosynthesis is a process, which can be used to convert CO2 into useful carbon compounds with the help of microorganisms. Since this technology is still being developed, experiments need to be conducted to find the optimal working conditions for the microorganisms to function most efficiently. Here, two experiments were carried out as a part of a bigger project with a total of 9 experiments due to time limitations. In these experiments three different parameters (pH, cathode potential, substrate concentration) were adjusted to find the optimal values. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry were run. Samples from the cathode were regularly taken and tested on pH and analyzed with high performance liquid chromatography. It was observed that the formation of the biofilm was faster when the cathode potential was slightly higher.

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To solve the energy problem of the 21st century, the possibility of hydrogen as fuel source is being investigated, in particular in this paper the production of hydrogen through a catalysed ethanol steam reforming. A suitable support for nickel as active phase is looked for among the metal oxides, TiO2, ZrO2 and CeO2 are investigated. After the selection of the support, the catalyst is optimized by doping with CaO and/or gold nanoparticles. Next to the catalytic testing with an ethanol-water mixture, a series of characterization have been carried out: TPR, TPO, SEM, XRD, N2-physisorption, AAS and IC. Cerium oxide has been found to be the superior support in terms of the activity of nickel. Adding calcium oxide increased the hydrogen yield but could not cure the deactivation due to coke formation. Gold nanoparticles increased the activity of nickel and favoured the hydrogen yield significantly. The combination of the two dopants resulted in a catalyst with 70% hydrogen yield after ten hours.

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In this project, chemolithotrophic bacteria will be enriched initially under selective conditions. These enriched bacteria will be used to convert liquid substrates mainly wastewaters carrying volatile fatty acids (VFA) and gaseous substrates (CO2) into different chemical products such as alcohols and bioplastics (PHA). The detailed evaluation of electrochemical and biochemical parameters of the different processes will be done along with the shifts in microbial population. The efficiency of the different processes will be calculated. Furthermore, the efficiency of the bioelectrosynthesis of PHA process will be compared with the conventional process (fermentation) as well as with the integrated process. The composition of PHA will also be evaluated.